Industrial Court Orders Pension Transitional Directorate to Pay Retiree Pension Arrears from 1999
Hon. Justice Muhammed Hamza of the Portharcourt Judicial division of the National Industrial Court has ordered the Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate AND 5 Others to immediately compute and pay Retiree Elder Godwin Nwaorgu all his Arrears of Pension from June 1999 till his death.
The Court ordered the Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate AND 5 Others to pay Elder Godwin Nwaorgu the sum of N1,751,532.13 (One Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty-Two Kobo) being his total Arrears of Pension due to him.
Justice Hamza entered the judgment in accordance with the terms of the settlement consented to by both parties in substantial compliance with the rules of the court.
From facts, claimants- Elder Godwin Nwaorgu had submitted that he retired in the year 1999, and the Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate AND 5 Others who are responsible for payment of the gratuity and pension refused to pay even after verifying him at Owerri on the 30th day of August, 2019.
Elder Nwaorgu averred that the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate and its Executive Secretary have been dribbling him and have incessantly demanded the same documents from him.
In defence, the defendant- Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate AND 5 Others opted for an out-of-court settlement with Elder Nwaorgu and an amicable settlement was reached by both parties.
The parties agreed that the terms of settlement (upon execution thereof) shall be entered as judgment of the court and shall operate as a bar to any present or future action in respect of the subject matter of the suit against the agency.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Hamza ruled on the terms of settlement as agreed by both parties and awarded no cost in the spirit of an amicable resolution.
